Russians and Crimea: joy is gone, pride remains
Moscow - Kyiv, September 2 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - Russians are no longer rejoicing over the annexation of Crimea, but continue to experience feelings of triumph and justice. At the same time, the attitude of Russians towards Ukraine is worsening. This is evidenced by a survey by the Levada Center.
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According to an August survey by the Levada Center, the number of Russians who are happy about the return of Crimea to Russia has decreased over four months from 23 to 16%. The share of citizens who, when asked about their feelings about the return of Crimea, speak of approving the decision of the Russian leadership has also decreased: now there are 40% of them, whereas in March there were 47%. 30 and 37%, respectively, feel feelings of triumph of justice and pride in the country, and these proportions have remained unchanged since the spring. Negative emotions (disapproval, protest, shame) remained among 9% of respondents.
Since the spring, respondents’ views on how Ukraine itself perceives the exclusion of the peninsula have changed: in Russia they are aware of growing hostility on the part of their neighbors. In August, only 9% responded that citizens of the neighboring country do not have negative feelings towards Russia. At the end of March, this figure was 17%. 23% of respondents are confident that this step causes Ukrainians to hate only the Russian leadership, 38% talk about hatred of Russia in general. In March, this situation was predicted by 18 and 24%, respectively.
At the same time, the opinion about whose Crimea should be has changed significantly not in favor of Ukraine. Only 4% see him as part of this country, compared to 14% in March. 15% versus 11% were in favor of state independence of the peninsula. For joining Russia - 73% versus 64%.
However, since the spring, the willingness of Russians to reduce their income so that the state can finance the annexation of the peninsula has noticeably decreased. Sociologists told respondents that the annexation of Crimea would require significant investments from Russia, which would entail limiting the growth of wages and pensions, reducing social programs, and rising prices. In March, only 19% of respondents flatly refused to personally pay for the actions of the Russian leadership. Now they are “completely not ready” to incur personal costs of 28%. 17% are ready to fully or significantly suffer for Crimea (up from 26%). 33% are willing to pay certain costs, the same as in March.
The modality of public sentiment has not changed, says Alexey Grazhdankin, deputy director of the Levada Center. The annexation of Crimea is still assessed as unequivocally positive. According to the sociologist, the survey rather indicates a deterioration in the attitude of Russians themselves towards the population of Ukraine, which is connected not with Crimea, but with the war in Donbass.
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